Sunday, November 30, 2014

One of a Kind

My first holiday cup from Tim's. Love the knitting theme!!

This morning Beth and I headed to Toronto for One of a Kind. It's going to be a busy week and there was no other day to go. We scored big.
I've wanted a purse from Karen Wilson for some time. She does awesome bags in upholstery fabric. The bag is going to be shipped to me next week because Karen is going to shorten the handle on the bag and add a removable strap. The best part of the bag. Big Balls. Take a look at the closure. Fiona Ellis owns a few Karen Wilson bags and I'm always trying to steal them from her. Now I have to make sure she doesn't see mine.



I had fun buying buttons. The business card isn't with me but it's a family who has a farm in the woods and make their own buttons. I'm going to talk with her about possibly carrying them in the store.

If you go to the show, the booth is in aisle I close to the back on the right hand side.



This was bought as a Christmas present but it might stay in my possession. It is a shoe that was put in concrete and then glass mosaic pieces added.

Yesterday I talked about the Fleece Artist mitten kits. Cathy sent a picture of a pair of Soft Mitts that she just finished.
They look very warm!

I'm hurrying to get my post done. Half an hour until kick off. GO CATS GO!

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Mitts

We received a box from Fleece Artist yesterday. Fleece Artist is located in Nova Scotia and does an amazing job hand dying yarn.

We have lots of hand dyed fleece - merino sliver in 50gram skeins.

There were two different mitten kits in the box.


Soft Mitts

A strand of wool held with a strand of mohair knit on 5mm needles. These are super soft!!

No two kits are the same.



Thrum Mitts
From Knitting Daily
"Thrum" originally referred to the short lengths of waste yarn leftover after woven cloth was cut off the loom. In the spirit of necessary thriftiness, craftspeople would find a variety of uses for these thrums--stuffing pillows and mattresses, and after a while, knitting them into mittens and hats to provide an extra layer of warmth. 
Each thrum, or short length of yarn, would be worked together with the main knitting yarn as a single stitch, with the ends of the thrum left hanging inside the mitten to provide insulation. Lovely! Except that people soon discovered that the yarny thrums could catch on fingers, and even fray. 
The second type of thrum works much better, and has been a tradition for generations in the chilly-but-gorgeous environs of Newfoundland and Labrador up here in Canada. This type of thrum is actually roving, or unspun sheep's wool, separated into wisps, which are then knit into the stitches along with the working yarn as before. The ends of the fleece form little poufy pillows inside your mittens, and your fingers start thanking you the minute a pair of thrummed mittens is on your hands. 
Basically, you're making a sheepskin for the inside of your mittens. With the wide variety of dyed wool roving available these days, you can choose a rainbow of colors from which to make your thrums. (You can purchase unspun roving at many local yarn shops; or take a trip to your local fibre festival!)
Visit The Yarn Harlot's blog to read about thrumming... 

I had a pair of thrum mitts (who knows where they ended up) and I highly recommend them. I wore them when we went to the Grey Cup in Hamilton and it was a cold, snowy day. My hands were very happy!

Speaking of the Grey Cup. GO CATS GO!!!!!

Friday, November 28, 2014

Come Together




New kits just arrived from Classic Elite. Come Together. There are 6 balls of Silky Alpaca Lace (70% Alpaca, 30% Silk - 400m - 440 yards). You wind these balls into one ball of 6 strands and then knit a very easy project.

These kits will make a great gift for your knitter friends. 

If you decide that you don't want to make the magic ball, you can use the kit for many scarves or small shawls. A suggestion is the Bias Before and After Scarf from Churchmouse Yarns.
We dubbed this scarf ‘before & after’ because it’s so ugly (truly!) before it’s blocked and so beautiful after. Knitted on the bias, this light, airy scarf has the smooth simplicity of stockinette stitch without all the rolling at the edges. The nearly sheer fabric is perfect for warmer days—layer two for coziness.
One ball will make this scarf.

A free pattern from Classic Elite that takes one ball...

A free pattern from Classic Elite for a scarf using one ball...

The Garter Stripe Cowl takes 4 balls of Silky Alpaca Lace. The pattern asks for 2 balls of one colour and then one ball each of 2 different colours. I think that it will look great in 4 different colours.

The pattern is free in a Classic Elite Web-Letter....

The Lightweight Cowl takes 3 balls of Silky Alpaca Lace.

Download the free pattern...

The Lowell Cowl takes 4 balls of yarn.

Read the Web-Letter...


Parkhurst is an amazing shawl using two balls of Silky Alpaca Lace. The pattern is available in Classic Elite book 9142 (we have a few copies in the store) or you can purchase the ebook on Ravelry...

The kit price is $140.

We have open stock of Silky Alpaca Lace (solids and hand paints) as well if you want to make a scarf. The 6 strand patterns are only available in the kit.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope all our friends in the US are having a great Thanksgiving Day. There is no turkey in my near future but I will be enjoying football today :) And knitting. Clue #3 is almost done. Just two more rows and then onto #4.

An order just came in from Lantern Moon. Great Christmas gift ideas. Cat lovers - there is a new tape measure.
 Crocheted stitch markers.


So cute. What a great stocking stuffer.

We also received yarn from Classic Elite - more colours of Fresco. I love Classic Elite Yarns but their colour palettes are huge. There is no way that we can order in 10 skeins of every colour. I would love to but there is a small space issue in the store. They came up with mixed packs of Fresco and we received 2 skeins each in many colours.

Fresco is a smooth and even 3-ply sport weight yarn. The plies are twisted together tightly enough to make a firm, springy yarn, but not so tightly that the yarn loses its lofty, soft hand. The fiber blend—wool (for warmth and strength), alpaca (for loft and sheen), and a bit of angora (to provide a soft halo)—makes a yarn that’s warm, soft, and slightly fuzzy.
Fresco is 60% wool, 30% baby alpaca and 10% angora.

There are many Classic Elite Web-Letters with patterns for Fresco. I love these mittens. You need 2 skeins - 1 of each colour.

Download the pattern...

This cowl is knit in 2 skeins of Fresco. 


2 skeins will also make this great slouch hat.




When I blogged last week about receiving an order from Namaste I forgot to add in that we now have the Harlow bag in Slate Gray.
We're home and the football game is on. I must say that I am enjoying the score of the game. I managed to finish Clue #3 just before leaving the store. One more game to go tonight so I should get a few rows done on Clue #4

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

tosh

Cathy started rearranging the madelinetosh dk while I was away and Lynn finished it up this morning. It's neat and tidy now.

The colours were calling me so I made up some Linen Stitch Scarf kits.
The pattern is the Linen Stitch Scarf from Churchmouse Yarns. This is an addendum knit in DK weight yarn on 7mm needles. The scarf above is knit in tosh dk and the scarf below is knit in merino dk.

If you are looking for a quicker knit, why not try the Honey Cowl?
Pattern: Honey Cowl (free on Ravelry)
Yarn: 1 skein for a tight cowl - 2 skeins for the infinity scarf pictured

I totally forgot something in my blog post last night. The designer of Airius is Linda Sellick. You can find all her patterns on Ravelry...

After work Beth drove out to see how our house looks. The roof trusses are on. Yes, that is snow. Sometimes her pictures are a bit fuzzy but this time it wasn't her fault.

It's official. The lock box. Our real estate agent had an open house today for real estate agents in the area. 25 came out to see the house. We were shocked by that number. Not that we had any clue what a good turnout is but that seems like a lot.

It's time to pull out Exploration Station and knit. The deadline for the store KAL is approaching.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Airius

Light as air ……….. “Airius”  
This very easy crescent shaped shawl is worked in one piece, from the top down. 
The Garter Stitch shawl body consists of a single row repeat stitch pattern.  
The easy lace border is joined to the shawl body as it is worked.  
The border is written in both word and charted forms.  
Two strands of luxury yarn are held together and knitted as one throughout.  
This design can be worked by either using 2 balls of the same colour or have fun as I did and use 2 completely different colours and make your own unique colour way, it will be truly unique and beautiful!!
Pattern: Airius (available for purchase on Ravelry)
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe.

The six brand new colours of Kidsilk Haze Stripe should be arriving next week.
This shawl is colours 202 and 361.

This shawl is colour 360 and 200.

Here is the story of Airius

Just over a year ago, I won a prize that you were offering to name your new colour way for the "Color Play Mohair Wrap" - I named it "Royal Botanical Gardens".  Rather than have you ship my prize to me (a kit to make a Color Play Mohair Wrap), I choose to drive to your store and pick out which kit I would like.  I choose the Royal Botanical Gardens colour way and needless to say, I returned home with more than my prize yarn pack!!

Every Fall, my husband and I return to our boat in Virginia and then cruise to warmer waters on our SV Oneday during the winter months.  Last year, I couldn't resist taking along my prize pack of yarn to add to my ever growing on board stash (just in case I may run out of yarn!!).  One day in February, I crawled into one of the boat back room yarn storage bins and pulled out the 4 balls of Rowan Kid Silk Haze Stripe.  Instead of knitting the Color Play Mohair Wrap and since I'm never able to do what I'm supposed to do, I decided to put the yarn and myself through our paces and ended up designing and knitting the prototype for Airius.  I absolutely loved the way that 2 different shades of this yarn just magically worked together and produced such a wonderful colour effect yarn.  When completed, I sent the finished shawl off to Patty McGuire in Virginia Beach for a professional photo shoot.  The resulting photos were absolutely amazing but there was still more work to do on Airius.  So, with spread sheet in hand and because I wanted to create a pattern that used just 2 balls of this wonderful yarn without an annoying amount of leftovers, I tweaked Airius until she satisfied what I had in mind for her.  Blocking on a sailing vessel presents a major problem, so I waited until we returned to Ontario at the end of April this year to complete this final touch.  I then packed up Airius and sent it South to www.pattymacphotos.com in Virginia Beach VA for a professional photo shoot.  
Beth and I watched Homeland from Sunday night. Oh my goodness. How are we going to wait until Sunday to find out what happens? I am really enjoying this season. Just wish it was on every night :)